According to report, four out of the nine widows of the activists from the Ogoni region, who opposed the operating practices of the Royal Dutch Shell oil corporation, have ended their case and cancelled further proceedings against Shell in Hague, Netherlands.
The widows had sought to hold Shell liable for damages after their anti-oil activist husbands were executed by the Nigerian government in 1995.
The widows’ husbands were arrested and hanged after a trial that turned international opinion against Nigeria’s then-military rulers. Among the activists was writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa.
In 2009, Shell had struck a $15.5 million settlement with relatives of some families in the United States.
In March 2022, the Hague court ruled that there was not enough evidence to support the widows’ assertion that Shell had bribed witnesses to give false testimony in the trial that led to the execution of their husbands.
Shell also reportedly made the settlements without acknowledging wrongdoing.
A statement by Shell on Monday read, “We have always denied the allegations made against Shell in this case.
“However, this does not in any way diminish the tragic nature of the events of 1995.”